Explore Massage Therapist Resume Examples and Writing Tips

To work in massage therapy, you need to have a broad skill set and you also need to know how to interact with people. Massage sessions in massage therapy are typically used to help with emotional and physical issues, and that means the massage treatments you do are health care. Highlighting both your ability to work with people and your knowledge of the body can incentivize a recruiter to look further into your resume.

When you go to resume templates and start looking at the structure, the first thing you should think about is what resume format you want to use. Chronological, functional and combination resumes all look a little bit different but they’ll typically all use these sections.

 

 

The first section is the header. This is a design element, to some extent. You’ll typically include your full name, contact information, and professional portfolio links in this section. A resume template will typically include some design features around the header.

 

 

Your resume summary or resume objective is a two to three-sentence paragraph at the very top of your resume that includes all of your best achievements and experience. You should typically write the rest of your resume first, then your summary or objective. This way, you can scan through your resume and pick out the best skills and knowledge you have.

 

 

There are two different skill sets you’ll typically need as a licensed massage therapist. The first is different types of massage, which may include these:

• Swedish massage
• Prenatal massage
• Chair massage
• Deep tissue massage
• Soft tissue massage
• Sports massage
• Shiatsu massage
• Therapeutic massage
• Rehabilitative massage
• Hot stone massage
• Thai massage

The second is generalized massage therapist skills. These are wider, and you may see these bullet points on massage therapist resume examples:

• Massage techniques
• Assessment of client needs
• General massage services
• Aromatherapy
• Reflexology
• Treatment plans
• Bodywork
• Wellness modalities
• Trigger point knowledge
• Range of motion
• Interpersonal skills
• Communication skills

You should include both in your skills section. Remember that both soft skills and hard skills are important in any position, so it’s crucial that you select both.

 

 

Part of your job search is discussing your professional experience. Whether you have years of experience or you’ve just gotten out of school for massage therapy, include all relevant experience in your work history section. List your experiences in reverse chronological order, with the most recent first.

 

 

Your education section should include all your certifications and any other education you have in the realm of physical therapy. You typically need to complete a certificate or diploma degree program, which may be advertised directly to massage therapists or more toward people like physical therapists and chiropractors. Your requirements will vary depending on the state, so do your research and put the required education courses on your resume.

Do:

• Include memberships in massage therapist groups. These can typically go in your education section.
• Look at massage therapist resume examples before you write your own. This can give you an idea of how to organize your resume.
• Take care of the resume template, including fonts and sizing, by using a resume builder. The ResumeHelp resume builder is a great tool for all job seekers for this very reason.

Don’t:

• Include more than 12 resume skills. Although there are many to choose from, you should pinpoint skills that are most valuable for the specific job – around six to eight.
• Add your high school diploma to your resume. Massage therapist degree or certificate programs typically require a high school diploma, so no need to include the latter in your education section.
• Create a resume that includes a lot of infographics and images. This can make it difficult for an applicant tracker system (ATS) to scan the resume.